Siberian Husky Dog Breed
Aliases: Siberian husky, Sibe
Description
The Siberian Husky is a beautiful gracious animal, a dog that sees through you and knows your disposition even before he has met you. He seems arogant and princelike, not deeming every man worthing of his attention. He seems somewhat like a gentle giant, in the meaning he looks kind but still requires respect. Once accepted by a Siberian first then may you experience the loving and awsome disposition of this beautiful creature. The Siberian loves to run and play, being very insightfull to the bodylanguage of other dogs he almost always bocomes a quick friend with most of them. A Siberian seldom argues and will much rather flee then fight, but a dog that offends the huskys honor will see the husky is deffinitly willing to defend it. Breeders have been vary keen on breeding well tempered dogs as it is a must that the dogs can work together and with a human leader. He is a strong, compact working dog with fantastic colors and patterns. They can have differant eye coloration as well from clear blue to dark brown, in fact even partail coloration is usual such as bi-color ( one blue and one brown eye) and parti-eyed (two differant colors in one eye). The siberian husky has a thick undercoat which makes it possible for the Sibe to withstand temperatures as low as -58 degrees to -76 degrees F (-50 to -60 C ).
The coat of a Siberian Husky ranges in color from Jet Black to Pure White. The colors include black and white, Jet black, silver (dilute) black and redish black.
Grey- The basic color is grey and the undercoat is usually a mixture of beige and silver.
Wolf Grey- A warm shade of grey with casts of beige, tan, yellow or red behind the ears and saddle area, the undercoat is beige (a wolflike face is not part of this coloration, thoe they often have it, they may also have open white faces).
Silver- There is no red or yellow hair intermixed.
Sable- This is a beautiful color that reminds of wolf grey thoe wolfgrey has a biege undercoat, sable dogs have red, chocolate or orange undercoats.
Copper- They are often termed "red" Copper or Chocolate Copper.
Coat Description
Patterns very from Agouti, (a very rare coloring which often has a brindle look to it.) to Piebald ( white with irregular patches of any color). The traditional colored pattern of the Siberian Husky is called the Irish Coat pattern.
Have you heard that "time changes everything" This can certainly be said about the Siberians coat, as puppies Sibes usually have beautiful colored masks but the effects of time change the mask pattern and with some the mask completely disapears, leaving a open white face.
History
The Siberian Husky where first bred by the Asian Chukchi people of the extreme northeastern part of Siberia, who once depended on Siberian Huskies to survive. The hearty dogs pulled sleds, herded reindeer and guarded property in challenging enviroment. Thier amazing stamina captured the attention of passing fur traders, who eventually brought the dogs to other parts of the world. The Husky is still known today for rushing much needed medicine to ill Alaskans. The Siberian Husky does well in sledding activities which provide a much needed outlet for their energies, they enjoy the cold weather romps, they are agile and adventurous and they are very fast runners.
It wasn\'t until 1909 that Americans heard of the superior sled dogs bred in Siberia/Russia, as they first competed in the All-Alaskan sweepstakes race , an extremely propular race between Nome and Candle, a race that covered 408 miles. Most where not impressed by the small dogs, Thoe one racer took extreme interest and imported 70 dogs to train for the 1910 race. Charles Fox Maule Ramsay entered three teams and came first, second and fourth- totaly dominating the race. Most huskies entered in the races and with great success was bred by Leonard Seppala.
In 1925 Togo led his team 650 miles from Nenana to Nome carrying Diptherian serum. During World War II, the breed furthered its heroic image by serving in the U.S. Army\'s search and rescue teams.
The Siberian Husky earned AKC recognition in 1930, and the Siberian Husky Club of America was founded in 1938.
Temperament
The temperament of a Siberian Husky is cautious and alert - you have to be worthy of their attantion. They are not overly suspicious of strangers or aggressive with other dogs.
He is a quick and athletic dog with a moderately compact build and a smooth, effortless gait. This intelligent breed is friendly and gentle and usually bonds more deeply with one person in the family. The Siberian is an independent thinker and can be a bit stubborn at a time. Still, if properly trained then he makes a great companion for the whole family and has a natural affinity for children. Some measure of reserve and dignity may be expected in the mature dog. His intelligence, tractability, and eager disposition make him an agreeable companion and willing worker. The Siberian Husky is not a protective nor possisive dog, it will often share it\'s treasures and treats with friends.
Although he is oftan affectionate to his entire family, the Siberian is really a one-man dog. With the fact that he is not naturaly suspicious towards strangers, this breed does not make a very good watch dog. The free spirit of the Siberian Husky gives him a very real wolf like feel he digs, he hunts and he must run! He is by nature meticulously clean and can often remind of a cats temperament.
One very positive trait of the husky is that it is a quiet dog, he seldom barks. Still many are very talkative and will howl with soft "boo" to tell you that he is happy to see you or is glad for other reasons. He will often show his affection towards the ones that have earned it, lay his head in your lap or give a kiss when he walks by. The Siberian Husky is a greatfull and thankfull breed.
Thyroid Disease - High Risk
The Siberian Husky ranks #25 among all breeds for autoimmune thyroiditis prevalence. There is a high risk of obtaining a dog that will develop thyroid disease. For this reason you should make sure you, or your breeder, are testing all dogs before breeding. It may even be a good idea to test dogs that you don't plan on breeding so that any instance of disease can be traced back to breeding pairs and eliminated.
| Rank Among Breeds |
Number of Dogs Tested |
Percent of Dogs With Disease |
| #25 |
1,498 |
11.7% |
You can download the full report (on all breeds) by the Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health. Here
Other Health Problems
Common health issues are, eye problems and hip dysplasia ( From January 1994 through December 1998, a total of 12,087 Siberian Huskies have been evaluated by OFA for hip dysplasia. Out of this total, 30.5% of the dogs have received "excellent" hip ratings, and only 2.2% have been dysplastic.)
